Radiation-emitting semiconductor components of this type may be embodied for example as in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/432,187, as two or more edge emitting lasers arranged one above the other, the respective active zones emitting coherent radiation having the wavelength λ1 and λ2, respectively, during operation. Since the radiation power of coherent radiation having a specific wavelength is essentially emitted only along a main emission direction, an observer observing the radiation-emitting semiconductor component from a direction that deviates from the respective main emission direction of the radiations having the wavelength λ1 and λ2, respectively, often cannot decide, or can decide only with difficulty, whether or not the semiconductor component is emitting radiation at the observation instant. This holds true, in particular, if one of the wavelengths λ1 and λ2 lies in the non-visible spectral range.
Furthermore, EP 0 486 052 discloses a plurality of active zones which are arranged one above the other and are arranged in LED structures which emit incoherent radiation. However, a semiconductor component of this type is not suitable, or is only inadequately suitable, for applications which require high intensities of the kind that can be generated by means of lasers. However, the incoherent radiation generated by the LED chips can be detected by an observer in a relatively large solid angle range that encompasses the main emission direction. Said solid angle range may for example form an angle of 60° or more with the main emission direction of the semiconductor component.